Safety In Health And Social Care Essay
HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SOCIAL CARE IT’S NOT JUST A JOBSWORTH
We as a sector have to follow many rules and regulations. These are set out by the Government and even the company you will work for. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 covers many subjects, and as a sector we follow this, as this not only protects the employer and employee but also the people we provide care for.
SHOCKING FAILURES – IT’S WHY WE NEED TO OBEY THE LAW
There have been many reports in the press about bad carers and care homes. Reports of service users being abused, incorrectly handled. Some of these reports can be brought down to lack of training or bad management. But most are just the people giving the care that should not be in the job. This is why we have laws so this sort of thing does not happen. If the laws and regulations are followed no one would hear of cases of bad carers or care homes. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as I said has many regulations that support it, some of these are;
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations …show more content…
1992 (COSHH)
The Manual Handling Regulations 1992 (sets out requirements for manual handling and moving and handling people).
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation 1985 (RIDDOR – sets out what needs to be reported).
A full copy of the act can be found on the Governments website.
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE WORKERS – PROTECTING THE VUNERABLE
As a health and social care worker we are trained in many things that protect the individual.
We have basic training in first aid , fire safety, food hygiene, what to do in an emergency, risk assessment, use of chemicals and waste disposal and security and visitors. We are also trained in spotting the signs of abuse, manual handling. All this training protects not just the individual but also us. We also carry Personal Protection Kits which includes gloves, aprons, masks, sterilizing gel and personal alarms.
Remember we may be an individual’s first line of protection.
PART OF THE SYSTEM
Abuse exists as much as any of us wish it didn’t, it
does.
There are many forms of abuse and many are not visible to the eye. As a care worker you may come across signs or admissions of abuse. If you believe abuse is going on there are steps for you to follow. If you work for a care company you can voice your concerns to your manager (remember confidentiality). They will record the meeting they have with you. This then gets passed onto S.O.V.A (safety of vulnerable adult’s team). They then go out and assess the individual and report back their findings to the company. This if abuse is present leads to a meeting with S.O.V.A, your manager and yourself. At this meeting it is discussed S.O.V.A, s findings and what measures need to be put in place and implemented for the individual to keep them safe. The situation is kept an eye on.
Health and Safety in social care is a day to day occurrence. Every time you go out to an individual you are promoting health and safety in the things you do.
The rules are put in place to protect everyone, breaking them is not an option.
We as a sector have to follow many rules and regulations. These are set out by the Government and even the company you will work for. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 covers many subjects, and as a sector we follow this, as this not only protects the employer and employee but also the people we provide care for.
SHOCKING FAILURES – IT’S WHY WE NEED TO OBEY THE LAW
There have been many reports in the press about bad carers and care homes. Reports of service users being abused, incorrectly handled. Some of these reports can be brought down to lack of training or bad management. But most are just the people giving the care that should not be in the job. This is why we have laws so this sort of thing does not happen. If the laws and regulations are followed no one would hear of cases of bad carers or care homes. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as I said has many regulations that support it, some of these are;
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations …show more content…
1992 (COSHH)
The Manual Handling Regulations 1992 (sets out requirements for manual handling and moving and handling people).
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulation 1985 (RIDDOR – sets out what needs to be reported).
A full copy of the act can be found on the Governments website.
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE WORKERS – PROTECTING THE VUNERABLE
As a health and social care worker we are trained in many things that protect the individual.
We have basic training in first aid , fire safety, food hygiene, what to do in an emergency, risk assessment, use of chemicals and waste disposal and security and visitors. We are also trained in spotting the signs of abuse, manual handling. All this training protects not just the individual but also us. We also carry Personal Protection Kits which includes gloves, aprons, masks, sterilizing gel and personal alarms.
Remember we may be an individual’s first line of protection.
PART OF THE SYSTEM
Abuse exists as much as any of us wish it didn’t, it
does.
There are many forms of abuse and many are not visible to the eye. As a care worker you may come across signs or admissions of abuse. If you believe abuse is going on there are steps for you to follow. If you work for a care company you can voice your concerns to your manager (remember confidentiality). They will record the meeting they have with you. This then gets passed onto S.O.V.A (safety of vulnerable adult’s team). They then go out and assess the individual and report back their findings to the company. This if abuse is present leads to a meeting with S.O.V.A, your manager and yourself. At this meeting it is discussed S.O.V.A, s findings and what measures need to be put in place and implemented for the individual to keep them safe. The situation is kept an eye on.
Health and Safety in social care is a day to day occurrence. Every time you go out to an individual you are promoting health and safety in the things you do.
The rules are put in place to protect everyone, breaking them is not an option.